Food coatings for meats, seafood, vegetables and the like have been used for many years In home preparation, the food is typically first coated with a batter comprised essentially of flour, milk, eggs and seasoning, and the resulting product is then typically coated with bread or cereal crumbs which have been either dried or toasted. The coated food is then cooked, usually fried, and served for consumption.
Coatings are typically used in the food industry to form a seal against moisture loss during frozen storage and consumer reheating. During reheating, coatings can absorb the natural juices of a food product while maintaining a desirable, crisp outer surface and thereby conserve and retain the natural flavor and nutritive value of the food. The texture and flavoring of the coating can be adjusted to meet or create consumer demand. Coatings can also give a more pleasing appearance, both in the food product's frozen, storage form and also when it is reheated and served by the consumer.
Consumers typically enjoy food with a fried-like taste and texture. However, consumers also typically prefer the ease and simplicity of conventional baking or microwave cooking as an alternative to frying. Consequently, the food industry has responded by developing different methods and compositions for providing products which, upon conventional oven reheating, result in food with a fried-like texture and flavor. Breading crumbs are often used in the food industry to enhance the fried-like texture.
Breading crumbs are typically derived from bread or cereal which have been either dried or toasted. A binding agent is often used in applying the crumbs to the food. Binding agents typically comprise a batter (with or without a preliminary predust) or a liquid wash made from a water solution containing a food grade adhesive. Functional food grade adhesives comprise starch adhesives (modified, unmodified, or pregelatinized), naturally occurring protein adhesives (such as egg albumen or vital wheat gluten), and dry gums (such as hydroxypropyl cellulose (HMC), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), micro-crystalline cellulose, sodium alginate, or xanthan gum). These adhesives may be incorporated in a dry predust applied to a food product which is thereafter wetted, or may be mixed in a wash solution or batter applied to the food product.
A use of certain functional food grade adhesives in applying bread crumbs to food products without the use of a batter is discussed in Rispoli, U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,637. Binding agents may also sometimes comprise one or more of the following: shortening, salts, dyes and pH buffers. When the food industry uses a batter as a binding agent, a batter mix is typically first prepared, comprising flour, non-fat dry milk, milk derivatives, egg products, flavoring agents, and coloring agents. The batter is typically prepared by adding water to the batter mix.
Some coatings designed to provide a friedlike texture have been developed for microwave cooking. A number of previously known coating compositions, for both conventional and microwave cooking, are disclosed in the following patents: Rispoli et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,601; Lee et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,485; Evans et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,442; Sortwell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,603; Mancuso, U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,512; Meyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,566; and Fazzina et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,501. These coatings and processes have had varying degrees of success.
Microwave cooking of coated foods typically fails to produce the "mouth-feel", taste, or texture resembling fried foods. In microwave cooking, the heat energy is released internally within the food. The surface, unlike conventional cooking methods, remains at a relatively even temperature with the interior; consequently, the high surface temperatures necessary to achieve browning, dehydration, and crisping in the coating are typically not achieved. In an effort to overcome these problems, some appliance manufacturers have resorted to including conventional heating elements within microwave chambers. Food coating merchandisers sometimes include brown coloring components in their coating mixes, to artificially produce the desired browned appearance of the food surface. An auxiliary browning element adds to the expense of the microwave oven, increases its complexity and may or may not produce the desired results. In the case of adding coloring components to the food coatings, somewhat better color appearance may be achieved; however, the desired surface crispness and dehydration is typically not obtained.
Problems with previous known coating processes include the ability of the coating to adhere to the product surface. Texture, color and mouthfeel characteristics of the coated foods could also be made more organoleptically desirable. Some coatings lose their crispness by absorbing condensation during storage temperature fluctuations.
Finally, although customers desire fried-like flavor and texture, customers typically view fried foods as less nutritionally desirable than foods which are baked. Indeed, fried foods typically absorb oil as moisture is fried out of the foods. This increases the amount of fat, cholesterol, and calories in the food.
Achieving fried-like flavor and texture for food products, particularly chicken, consistent with consumer demands but without the disadvantages of frying is an object of this invention.